Victoria Mitchner is running for County Commission. A candidate forum sponsored by the North Merritt Island and East Merritt Island Home Owners Associations with assistance from the League of Women Voters was held October 15 at Calvary Chapel in Merritt Island.(Photo: TIM SHORTT/ FLORIDA TODAY)Buy Photo

Victoria Mitchner was born and raised in Brevard County. She enlisted in the United States Army after graduating from Rockledge High School and served one tour in Iraq while on active duty. During her transition to the Army Reserves, she excelled in the ranks within the Office of Personnel Management in the Department of the Army military technician program.

Mitchner returned to Brevard to raise her family while working as a personnel officer in the Brevard County Human Resources Department. As a working mother, she completed her Bachelor of Science in legal studies and is currently working toward earning her master of business administration.

Mitchner has had an exemplary career serving this nation and our local community, and she impressed our entire group with her thoughtful approach to balancing the needs of the county while respecting taxpayers and local job creators.

Her experience working inside the county Human Resources Department, where she oversaw 11 departments, has given her a wealth of knowledge of the challenges facing our county budget and the management of the over 2,500 employees.

However, it was her character and integrity that most impressed the board of directors of Business Voice Political Committee, a nonpartisan organization that engages businesses from across Brevard County and the Central Florida Region to provide a cohesive voice in political advocacy at the state, regional and local levels

Mitchner is running for County Commission so she may continue to serve and give back to the community. In this age of divisive partisan politics, Mitchner offers a refreshing option to voters who believe that we can accomplish more through cooperation than we can through confrontation.

Kathryn Rudloff(Photo: Provided)

Mitchner’s campaign is focused on making sure hard working families can continue to live and work in the little slice of heaven we have here on the Space Coast.

She supports economic development to spur the creation of good paying jobs for our neighbors. She supports smart, sustainable growth and will fight to ensure Brevard gets its fair share of the Sadowski Affordable Housing Trust fund to help first time home buyers with down payments and closing costs. And she is committed to bringing together a coalition of public and private stakeholders to ensure the restoration of the Indian River Lagoon is everyone’s top priority for the foreseeable future.

Business Voice had previously endorsed Chuck Nelson in District 2. However, his loss in an divisive Republican primary provided us an opportunity to revisit this race. Our members, like many voters, are turned off by the new lows that political discourse has fallen to in recent years. How a candidate conducts themselves on the campaign trail speaks a great deal to how they will conduct themselves once in office.

While it is true District 2 leans Republican, we believe there is a real opportunity for Mitchner, a Democrat, to be the uniting candidate who can appeal to voters from both sides of the aisle who expect their elected officials to place public service ahead of partisan politics.

Mitchner has the experience we need to manage county government and the character and integrity we should expect from public servants.

Vote Victoria Mitchner for County Commission District 2.

Kathryn Rudloff is the executive director of Business Voice Political Committee. You can view their full list of 2018 endorsements at www.businessvoicepac.com.